Francis Wong discusses purchasing a Final Scratch DJing system that allows playing music from a laptop via custom records. This gives DJs more flexibility to play unexpected music and remix songs. Wong says it will mean never having to play an "anthem" again. There is some concern about the legality of using mp3s and CD-Rs with Final Scratch in clubs. Wong provides resources on Canadian copyright law and the licensing agency AVLA to help DJs and club owners understand the rules to avoid legal issues.

1. infinit-E
test driven by francis wong
A few weeks ago, on the
way home from work I reached into
my, at the time, deep pockets and lo
and behold! I managed to scrape
enough cash out of my wallet to start
the financing on a brand new piece of
D.J.'ing hardware/software package
known to the greater population as
Final Scratch. Basically a special lit-
tle round box and some custom
records which allow me, as the infa-
mous house of pong, to play music off
of my laptop. It's as simple as it
sounds and it's, if you'll pardon my
French, effin' awesome…
I won't bore you with the
technical aspects of this fantastic plas-
tic machine; how it actually works is
still beyond this genius, but thankful-
ly it does. Being able to play virtual-
ly any piece of music on my turnta-
bles doesn't just mean super fun times
for the D.J., but a better show for you,
the listener. Which is really what
electronic music is about (those of
you who have been keeping up with
this column the last few months
should be quite well versed in my par-
ticular point of view). What has
always made electronic music so
innovative is the fact that it can be
written and created with virtually any-
thing one could imagine as an instru-
ment. On a single computer, one
could orchestrate an entire symphony,
but depth and variety has never been
an issue, but its means of distribution.
Making dub plates for amateur pro-
ducers is just way too expensive. So
until recently, while there still exists a
brilliant selection of records for us
D.J.s to choose from and for us listen-
ers to jam to, we always sat in the
shadow of the knowledge that there
was at least ten times greater stuff at
the tip of our tongues which we would
never party to.
D.Js and producers, as
Windsor's own Ian Hind comments,
benefit the audience by being able to
really play to the audience, not just
with their own original tracks, but by
being able to remix and remaster other
songs to befit the setting (i.e. for a
lounge as opposed to a warehouse…).
"It's about enhancing the audience's
experience by combining what they
know with what they least expect."
I've seen it in action… he isn't kid-
ding.
What it means to me as a
D.J. is that I may never have to play
an 'anthem' again. During my stint as
a D.J. in Ottawa, I was enjoyed as the
type who played out that which
nobody else did. You can imagine
how increasingly difficult that
became, but now I can pretty much
guarantee you can come to expect the
unexpected from this performer. If
you never get a chance to see Ritchie
Hawtin or John Aquaviva use this
amazing technological bridge
between analogue and digital, there
are a few local geniuses running loose
in the city with it, have trust that they
too will blow your minds.
addendum:
As Final Scratch is starting
to come into it's own commercially,
there has been quite a lot of concern
regarding the legitimacy of using
sound media such as mp3's, wav's or
CD-R's, and a lot of that concern is
being expressed by club and bar own-
ers… for good reason. Unfortunately,
as far as rumours and tips go, every-
thing which has been floating around
has been clear as mud. Myself, as
well as a few other D.J.'s and produc-
ers have been doing a little research
into possible copyright infringement
and, while we are a little reluctant to
be doling out any legal advice, we
have managed to turn up a few
resources for everybody to look up.
At the advice of the federal
authorities, I have managed to find the
Canada Copyright Act on the internet,
and have found section 42 deals with
our possible predicament. Also, a
Canadian company by the name of
Audio Video Licensing Agency Inc.
(AVLA) deals in representing record
labels legally and have been helpful in
answering a few questions. They can
be found at www.avla.ca.
I would urge everybody
(club owners and performers alike) to
do their homework, as I believe isn't
anybody's intention to break the law;
however that may become difficult to
do if you don't know the rules. The
kind people of the Electronic Music
Progression have dedicated space on
their website to post findings on this
matter, and I urge you all to take
advantage of this. If we don't clear
the air on this, the only suggestion I
can offer is that D.J.'s stay at home
and everybody else break out the
Dance Mix '95.
Check out the M.E.A.T. list-
ings for upcoming electronic music
events.
voice electronic electronic music scene by francis wong
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